Ryan Phillippe's Broken Leg was Result of Freak UTV Accident

Ryan Phillippe‘s “freak” leg injury that landed him in a hospital bed was from a UTV running it over … TMZ has learned.

Sources close to the “Shooter” star tell us he was off-roading back in July when the utility task vehicle rolled over, so Ryan and a stranger tried to flip it back on its wheels. Problem was — the parking brake wasn’t on, so when they turned it upright it started rolling downhill towards a crowd.

We’re told Phillippe rushed to grab the UTV’s steering wheel and steer it to safety, but it was moving too fast and yanked him underneath … causing the full weight of it to run over his right leg and crush it.

As we reported … Ryan gave a thumbs-up update of his injury shortly after it happened, explaining it was a freak accident and not work-related.